This March 8-15, is World Glaucoma Week. Launched 6 years ago by the World Glaucoma Association and The World Glaucoma Patient Association, events are being held across the world to raise awareness about Glaucoma. Afflicting 9 million people, Glaucoma is the world’s leading cause of irreversible blindness. Due to its slow progression, 50% of patients in the developed world and 90% in the developing world are untreated. While Glaucoma is currently incurable, with early detection and treatment, its progression can be halted.

WARNING: This blog post may offend some innovation seekers while inspiring others

I recently had an interaction with an organization supports innovation in knowledge-based industries. Several discussions with a representative of the organization revealed to me something that was a bit more common than I wanted to acknowledge: There are a lot of organizations that support the idea of innovation but have no real framework for it.

The past year has been one of tremendous growth and new opportunities for both MEMOTEXT – one of the pioneering mHealth companies – and mHealth as a whole. The two trends that power the mHealth revolution; increased usage of mobile technology and the move towards decentralized and personalized health care, have continued unabated. While mHealth is an industry still largely in its infancy, the use of this technology will only increase as the gap between the 10% of smartphone owners using health apps and 72% of patients using mobile apps, continues to close.

I am not a medical historian, but I would bet that if you asked one, they would identify the synthesis of Aspirin in 1897 as one of most significant moments in modern medicine. With its pain-relieving, anti-inflammatory and anti-platelet (blood thinning) properties packaged within a single tablet, Aspirin provided a safe, effective and easy treatment for a wide range of illnesses. Even today, it is listed on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines and is taken daily by millions of people for the prevention of heart attacks and strokes. Its synthesis (and the pharmaceutical revolution it helped to user in) has no doubt helped to increase our lifespan and bring about a higher quality of life.